However I would not be shocked if this was some kind of clever grift she's got going on precisely as you point out of a way to increase her public profile.

I don't think she's a grifter. I think grift implies deception. I give her the benefit of the doubt in that she genuinely believes that she is a Wonderful Person that is helping the poor negroes and making the world a better place. Hell, she probably assumes that she'd face a barrage of racist abuse (she deserves abuse; I dispute that it would be motivated by racism) for being so Stunningly Brave.

If it just so happens that it instead increases her profile to show us what a Wonderful Person she is, well in her mind that's just a happy (100% deserved) bonus for fixing the world.